The “Seeds of Hope” exhibition stresses our interconnectedness with the rest of the community of life and the need to broaden our sphere of compassion and concern. It encourages viewers to overcome feelings of powerlessness and highlights the fact that a single individual can initiate positive change.
It also introduces the positive vision for sustainable living expressed in the Earth Charter, and gives examples of eight individuals and groups who have successfully taken action for change, from Africa to the Arctic and Eastern Europe.
The message “It starts with one” is key–the slogan that the Earth Charter International have chosen for their “Earth Charter Plus 10” campaign in 2010.
The “Seeds of Hope” exhibition contains 24 panels, including one left blank with a simple tree design so viewers can attach their own statement of what they will do toward sustainability.
The exhibition uses the “Learn, Reflect, Empower” formula outlined in SGI President Daisaku Ikeda’s 2002 proposal on education for sustainable development, and is a tool for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.
• The initial section introduces the idea of interconnection with inspiring quotes from different spiritual and religious traditions.
• The exhibition stresses that sustainability is not only about protecting the environment but also ensuring social justice and peace.
• It introduces the Earth Charter and links the individual principles of the Earth Charter to the positive case studies.
• It gives concrete ideas of what one person can do, and provides space for people to pledge what action they will take.
• A special feature to appeal to children is the inclusion in the bottom half of each panel of an inset featuring an endangered or unusual animal.
“Seeds of Hope” is a successor to the “Seeds of Change” exhibition which was created for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002, and has since been shown in 33 countries in 13 languages and seen by 4,000,000 people around the world.